1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to online content delivery. More specifically, the present invention relates to managing delivery of ancillary content in a digital environment, including the termination of content delivery as well as the pre-delivery preview and control.
2. Description of the Related Art
Content delivery is increasingly network or online based whereby a user accesses a service provider over a communications network via an end-user client device. The service provider then delivers content to the end-user client device via a network connection. In many instances, this content includes music, movies, and video game content for either live, on-line game play or static single player engagement. Delivered content may be entirely on-line based (e.g., a streamed or downloaded movie) or may be delivered in conjunction with a traditional storage medium such as a DVD or CD. An end-user client device may execute, for example, a video game from a DVD and request certain portions of the video game from the service provider such as updated game information, including levels and in-game content. Content such as interviews, bonus performance, lyrics, or album information may be similarly retrieved with respect to music and video content otherwise maintained in a more traditional storage medium.
In many instances, the content delivered by the service provider concerns ancillary content such as ‘bonus’ content or advertisements that are related, but not critical to enjoyment of the primary content such as the video game or music video. The primary content is often developed, refined, and edited over the course of several months or years before it is delivered to the end-user. Because of this long development cycle, the primary content often represents a finished and polished final product. In many instances, the ancillary content is developed ‘spur of the moment’ to correspond with cultural trends, recent events, or then existing consumer demand. The ancillary content is often time sensitive and does not experience the same degree of development, refinement, and editing as the corresponding primary content.
Because of the shortened development cycle, ancillary content may often suffer from a number of developmental defects. These defects include delivery of content that might suggest a proper combination with primary content in the conceptual phase, but often proves to be less than ideal in terms of actual delivery and presentation. For example, an advertisement for a video game for survival in a post-nuclear-apocalypse game might ‘sound good’ in development, but be difficult to discern or understand when placed into a corresponding game environment where it is actually encountered by end-users. As such, there is a need in the art to better understand the appearance and control the interaction and integration of certain ancillary content in a digital environment.
Of perhaps even greater concern is when ancillary content is delivered for insertion into primary content and the ancillary content proves to be offensive or sometimes illegal in a particular community or jurisdiction. For example, energy drinks are popular throughout many parts of the world. A particular brand of energy drink is banned in France, Denmark, and Norway, however, due to perceived high levels of caffeine and other stimulants. France also bans other certain vitamin-fortified foods including certain brands of yogurt and cereal. Notwithstanding what might be an otherwise mundane or run-of-the-mill advertising campaign for any one of those products, the very proffering of that product for purchase may in fact violate laws of a particular country. As such, there is a need to remove certain offensive or illegal content from a digital environment.